


Dwarven Ethnicities

by InvalidUser



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Dwarves, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 09:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12454290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvalidUser/pseuds/InvalidUser
Summary: Just a tiny bit of Meta on dwarves and ethnicities. I find it hard to believe that all dwarves appear to be of northern European descent. This was originally posted on my Tumblr account. The post is dated March 25, 2015. I don't get a chance to write often, so I figure it'd be best to post it here so it doesn't get lost. The text has been edited slightly.





	Dwarven Ethnicities

Someone had wondered about what other ethnicities dwarves of middle earth might be. I’ve been noodling about that for a while, but I haven’t had the time to write anything about it because school, finals, and what not. So I finally have a chance to sit and write about it now. Please feel free to add your own comments thoughts as I don’t have anything solidified in my head about it. This gets long, so I have inserted a cut

 

First of all, per cannon, here is the list of the seven fathers and where their people hail from. The list is here:

Longbeards Moria

Firebeards Blue Mountains

Broadbeams Blue Mountains

Ironfists Far East Orocarni

Stiffbeards Far East

Blacklocks Far East (southern part of the Orocarni)

Stonefoots Far East

All dwarves speak Khuzdul, but I suspect they would be various dialects of Khuzdul since they aren’t all in the same areas. Although, I do expect they have some sort of “language police” or something similar like they have in France because they want to keep the language as close to the original as possible. I understand that traditional Rabbinical Hebrew has some overseeing body that won’t allow religious texts to be printed if they are printed in different text sizes etc. for the same reason.

It makes sense that they speak and write common through schooling, either in the home as it seems that the parts of middle earth that we are familiar with, or through some common educational system depending on where the dwarves hail from. I believe that Tolkien said something to the effect that dwarves learned Khuzdul when they were older. I often wonder if they use Khuzdul in much the way that folks use Latin today, it’s not something that folk speak every day, but they learn it as part of a more classical education. That is another post for another time though since my spring break isn’t that long.

On to the seven clans then

So, we can gather that the Longbeard clan is for the most part what we would consider as the equivalent of Western or Northern European, probably Icelandic judging by the names. We can assume that the films and books presents them pretty much as they are.

The Stiffbeards are from the Far East. Tolkien didn’t really go into the east other than that is where the Harad and Easterlings are. I’ve looked online, and I can’t find a map of to Orocarni at all. Fanon suggests they are from somewhere in the northeast as well. So, I am going to venture a guess based on pure conjecture that they are from far to the north and east. Why north do you ask? There was a picture going around a while back (copies of the article they are found in are linked here: article Most notably here: [ Mashable article ](http://mashable.com/2015/03/05/frozen-hair/#GB9hwIoM5Oqm) and here: [ Stiff beard inspiration ](https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/XUhVRan3-25AyrlCmcMUJKGz0pw=/fit-in/850x850/2015%2F03%2F05%2F8e%2F10644656_82.2aabb.jpg/)

I recall reading about monkeys that do this in parts of Japan, they kick back in hot springs during freezing cold temperatures, so I don’t think this is a one off. I submit to you that the Stiffbeards are a lot like the Inuit or Aleut peoples of Alaska and northern Canada. Perhaps something like this: [ Casual portrait ](http://www.eac.edu/events/images/Eskimos.jpg/) or this during the periods when they would have to be outside of their mountains when it’s freezing. Like here: [Family portrait](https://fantasticdl.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/3b36217u-1.jpg?w=500&h=382/) because let’s face it folks, -40 below is damn cold. I don’t care who or what you are. I expect that their beards tend to be fuller than is typical for a dwarf just to insulate themselves a bit more as far as appearances go. I would not be surprised to learn that they are the reasons the myths of the Yeti (or Yeti like creatures) exist.

Ironfist dwarves don’t have much information on them either. They are also from the Far East and were sort of paired up with the Stiffbeards. I posit they are from further south but at about the same points east. I would equate them as close to ethnically Mongolian. Perhaps something like this: [Girl riding a reindeer](http://www.hovdtour.mn/uploads/images/Classic%20Mongolian%20Tour%202.jpg)

The winters are still nasty, but not as severe as the part of the mountain chain that the Stiffbeards live in. I expect that the Ironfists are known for teas that grow in their mountain ranges and silks and dyes related to the fabric industry. I posit they imported milthril and silver to use in weaving into material much like the borders on sari silk. I expect they also dove for pearls in parts of the mountains that were near the coast.

So, next up, the Stonefoots (feet?) Again, there isn’t much on them canonically, other than they are from the Far East. So, I posit that they are from what would be an equivalent of India or thereabouts. Again, I saw a picture online that intrigued me. I’m sure most of you have seen it. The link to the picture is here: [Pretty lady picture](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/07/article-2718806-20535BCE00000578-869_634x816.jpg)

I believe the lady is of the Sikh religion which doesn’t approve of doing anything to the body, so no tattoos or shaving. Although, if she were a true dwarf, she’d have more jewelry. She’s very pretty though, with or without the beard. I suspect that the Stonefoot folk would be heavier on the jewelry. I suspect they are excellent traders and merchants and link the peoples of the Harad and the East with the west when it comes to trade

Then there are the Blacklocks. Again, canonically there isn’t much on them at all, other than they are from the east. I posit that they are also to the south, much further to the south, as fanon does have them from the south and east. I expect that they’d not dress in all the layers that the dwarves we see are in colder climates. I posit they would appear to be more North African in appearance, sort of like this: [Please note the sparklies](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e2/97/ed/e297eda6ddb9e32bb533f27871e70281.jpg) I suspect that the further south you go in their mountain range, the darker they become to protect their skin from the hot desert heat.

I further posit that they don’t always have their hair braided (And I would think that most dwarves do the braid thing, but not all of them do it exclusively) If this clan doesn’t do the battle style braids that the Longbeards do; they style their hair in either many pencil thin braids, or many thin dreadlocks. I do love the colorful clothes the girl in the picture is wearing. I posit that the Blacklocks are the creators of many wonderful beads and other shiny non gem decorations similar to how Syria/Mesopotamia/Egypt was famed for glass working back to about 3500 BCish. Perhaps they line them with silver, or more elaborately with mithril.

Then we have the Broadbeams and the Firebeards. It is understood that they live in the Blue Mountains. But where did they come from before that? They were originally in Belegost/Norgrod before the whole elf war of wrath thing went down. I posit that the area of Belegost/Norgrod was much warmer than up north, so I expect the Broadbeams would look more like folks from Central America, except with beards. Perhaps like this:[ Guatemalan people ](http://media.jrn.com/images/660*443/28328279-mjs_guatemala_-_nws_-_caw_-_mjs_guatemala.jpg)

I expect that with their mountains they’d have different materials as they seem to be fanon’s favorite miners (Bofur for example) I expect they’d be amongst the most chill of the dwarven people, and arguably the best armorers.

 

Last, but not least, are the Firebeards. They are per canon from the Belegost/Norgrod area like the Broadbeams, and known for having flaming red hair. I posit that they would be reminiscent of the ancient Celts who were also famed for their red hair. True, they aren’t POC, but this seems to make sense to me.

 

I’d love to see dwarves that appear to be more Polynesian, Maori, and indigenous Australian in origin, but I’m not sure how that would make sense in the Tolkien mythos as we know it. Does anyone have thoughts or comments they’d like to add?


End file.
